What did I really feel?

Since that day, I realized I had to do something for her. Something inside me felt the need to thank her, it was as if I was able to understand myself more because of her. I had the perfect idea as well. A coffee shop, a place where people can enjoy themselves and drink coffee together. I read about a similar thing in the documents I had, I felt in my soul that I could definitely make one with help.

Sure, it would be hard to put together a coffee shop. But that was my new life goal, to put together the most beautiful place for someone as precious as Lady Shamhat. I also wanted her to try my coffee, at least once, it didn't matter how long it would take for her to try even just a sip. If I could get her to just savor it a single time, I would be eternally happy.

And that's how it started. A new day started and I went to the financial center, I asked for a lot of money, and I promised that I would pay with the funds the shop made. Maybe I wasn't thinking fully straight, but I was pretty confident. I didn't think they'd even take anything I said seriously. Somehow, I was granted the funds from the financial center. It was tough, they did ask for a big percentage out of what I made, but I didn't really care in the moment.

The first stage of the shop was planning, I had an older woman assist me with planning out how everything would be placed. The type of flooring I wanted, the roof type I needed, the overall look I was going after. The people you hire to build these places need these notes, they're crucial to understanding how the shop is going to stand and look. They were pretty costly, but I needed to do it.

"I was wondering, do you have any other planned drinks other than coffee?" 

That's when my heart stopped for a second. I realized in that moment that I would need more than just coffee. While it was a new drink, people would get tired of the same thing. It is true that I only wanted to create this place for Lady Shamhat but I still needed to make money to pay everything back. And that's when I asked another person, this time it was an older man that people would talk about.

At a cost, he would help create and test different ideas that you would throw at him. He owned a massive storage bunker that had all kinds of resources, we tried endlessly to make something other than coffee. Something new, something people would come back to. I was confident in coffee, but I needed something else. All the attempts at a new recipe would cost a lot, I was spending many of the resources he had.

"Why not try adding new things to coffee?"

What kind of things? I spent weeks thinking of ways I could make coffee taste differently, but nothing. I encountered many problems across the first stage. The money I had to spend in the planning phase was already half of what I had, and if I messed up any more then I wouldn't have money to actually start the shop.

Until one day, I spilled a container with milk inside my cup of coffee. I felt disappointed in myself, possibly for the first time ever, but I decided to try it. It was a different experience. The sweet creamy taste accompanied with the harshness of coffee, felt perfect. I was no longer disappointed in myself. 

The day after, I went to places all around Luitol, grabbing all kinds of ingredients I could put together in a small cup of coffee. Each time succeeding in creating a different type of drink. That's when I decided to set a new smaller goal, I wanted to perfect the taste of both sweetness and harshness in one drink.

However, the day after, I woke up, and noticed that the building notes the older woman made for me were gone. I immediately fell on the floor and started crying, I felt terrible. Nothing was going according to plan. I spent most of that day crying in my bed, I had no way to go onto the next stages of the shop. I had spent half my money, I had worked countless weeks, all for nothing I thought. 

"Is anything of concern Amna?"

I explained what happened and he offered to build a coffee shop exactly how I wanted it, without even needing any of the building planning notes. All I had to do was tell him my vision and he promised to fulfill it. In mere moments, it felt as if I was being blessed by a god to continue this goal of mine, the man from the other day knocked on my door, like an angel coming down to save me.

Originally, the coffee shop would've been a five stage plan, but with all the bases covered so quick, we got to work. I helped put the walls together, the floors, the windows, the tools... I was involved in every step of the process. And after several months of hard labor, deep thinking, and involved organization - we did it.

The coffee shop was complete. 

it had nice brown walls, wood flooring, a white gable roof, and expansive windows that proudly displayed what the coffee shop was about. Amna proudly stood in front of it, she had brought over the crew that helped her build the shop to try her coffee for the first time. The man that offered to build for free and told her about the welcoming had become a worker at the shop. 

The crew tried her coffee and despised the taste. They didn't like the bitterness and instantly threw it out, even though Amna offered other coffee drinks - they declined. However, the man liked the drink and loved all the variations of it, he believed in her shop and wanted to help.

Amna wasn't upset about the comments, she loved the coffee shop, ever since it started being built, she slept in it until it was completed. Her life was devoted to it for a while and now that it was completed, she only had one goal left. She wanted Lady Shamhat to try her coffee and recognize her shop, but that wasn't an easy task.

On the first month of running, her shop didn't have many customers. She tried telling others about coffee to no avail, but no one seemed interested. When she'd tell others about her drink, people thought it was a lie. Those few who tried it, didn't seem to enjoy the idea of coffee much. 

That's when she realized, she hadn't completed her other goal. She wanted to make a coffee drink that perfectly captivated both sweetness and harshness in one. After trying milk and coffee, she never let go of that idea.

She had a recipe in mind for that new drink, but she was terrified to introduce it as one of the starter options. But she had no other options now, she wasn't able to be scared. She needed to make a move now, or her shop would be forever forgotten. 

And so she did.

After lots of convincing, she made the crew members try her new drink. She feared the reception it would get, but she was confident in her new drink. One of the crew members cautiously lifted the cup and took a sip, his face changed from a neutral stance to a happy one. The crew member drank the whole cup in one big gulp, the others around him were surprised. Each of them tasted it one by one. 

"This is probably the best thing I've tasted."

The crew members paid extra from the original price of the drink. They decided to tell others about the shop, and soon enough - many people from all backgrounds decided to try all the coffee drinks available in it. Including the highly successful drink she worked hard to develop, people across Luitol decided to call it "Shammy."

The shop obviously needed a name as well, so it was soon called "Ladies Coffee" - quicker than she expected, her coffee shop had become a hotspot in Luitol. While the shop had become popular, she never took individual credit for anything. 

"And that's where joy ended."

A war started in Luitol, the enemy forces by the name of Lyririe, had planned a massive military attack on the town on that day. Their goal was to kill Lady Shamhat because of an ongoing conflict between the towns. Lyririe was unstoppable, they had several plans in place to end Lady Shamhat's ruling at any cost.

"Amna. I shall protect you and your shop from these brutal adversaries," the man that helped her run the shop exclaimed, while standing by the entrance. "Please, hide."

Amna heard those words, walked into a closet, and hid in fear, she didn't want either of them to die, but she was powerless. A mere cup of coffee couldn't save the world. "I wanted to say one more thing. The name's Edmund, my apologies for not mentioning it earlier."

She didn't know what that was supposed to mean to her. But if anything happened, she would remember him by that name. Amna could hear massive explosions, gunshots, and screaming. She couldn't move out of the closet she was hiding in.

Amna wondered if after everything she had done, her goal wouldn't be met in the end. As soon as she finished her thought, a loud force broke down the door of the shop, military broke into the shop and started breaking everything in sight. They started shooting down all possible hiding spots, including where Amna was. 

Amna made no noise the entire time. They decided to leave as they figured, no one was in the coffee shop. However, there indeed was someone left. Amna was shot several times in the body through the closet, leaving her in a critical state. 

She opened the closet door and fell onto the floor, she started crawling while in horrible pain, her body was covered in holes, yet somehow had the strength to crawl. Tears coming down her eyes as she looked at a coffee cup on a table. "I... didn't..."

"Shh," Lady Shamhat shushed her.

In the blink of an eye, Amna felt something cold caressing her hand. It was that thorned rose, the hand of that beautiful blonde wearing the red dress. The coffee cup on the table was empty, Lady Shamhat had already drank it all. Lady Shamhat didn't speak a word, or make any specific gestures. She simply held Amna's hand.

"I am pretty happy. You had my coffee... and I got to hold your hand."

"Coffee Shop"